Wilfred Ndidi has gotten his first recognition in English football after picking up the BBC Man of The Match award on his debut for Leicester City in their 2-1 FA Cup win over Everton.

BBC Radio Live anchor Matt Elliot announced the 20 year old Nigerian as the man of the match shortly after the game, as he was particularly impressed by the speed at which he integrated into the Leicester squad despite having just two training sessions before the game.

” He’s slotted in and looked very impressive”, he said and his view was accepted by callers during the show as well as pundits who also saw the game.

Former Everton forward Leon Osman who watched the game as an anchor for BBC as well was also impressed by Ndidi’s performance on his debut terming his display as superb.

” He did a real good job for a guy making his debut. He was superb, cool and very assured on the ball plus he covers lot of grounds. Am impressed”.

Carl Ikeme has been voted as Man of The Match for Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers after helping them to a shock 2-0 win over Stoke City in the FA Cup.

As reported by Owngoalnigeria.com, the 30 year old shot stopper stood against Stoke City and a goal in the tie with top class saves to frustrate all their efforts at trying to reduce the deficit.

His performances was hailed by the coach of Stoke City Mark Hughes, who credited the Nigerian as part of the reason why his team were dumped out of the FA Cup by the Championship side.

Ikeme got 46% of votes from the fans in an online pool conducted and released by the official website of the team yesterday.
Mike Williamson came second in the pool with 21% of the total votes cast while Matt Doherty was third with 8% of the votes.

The decision of English Premier League giant Chelsea to recall defender Nathan Ake from his loan spell at Bournemouth is a move that should encourage Nigeria international Kenneth Omeruo.

Omeruo has been out on loan since joining Chelsea in 2013, enduring loan spells in Holland, England and Turkey where his performances have still not earn him a spot in the first team of Chelsea.

Former Chelsea legend and defender Celestine Babayaro said so during a short interview with Owngoalnigeria.com on the chances of Kenneth Omeruo cutting it at Chelsea, when his loan with Turkish side Alanyaspor ends in the summer.

” Times are changing, and Nathan Ake’s recall should encourage Omeruo. It shows the manager is monitoring players out on loan and willing to give them a chance if they prove themselves”, Babayaro told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” Omeruo will get his chance soon but he needs to focus on doing his best for his Turkish side, I heard he has played as a defensive midfielder in their last two games. The versatility will no doubt enhance his chances at Chelsea”.

Super Eagles and Gent of Belgium defender William Troost-Ekong had an unofficial debut he won’t want to remember after scoring an own goal as his side fell 1-3 to Dutch side Willem II.

The Nigerian was handed a start by coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck in the friendly tie alongside two other Nigerians in Anderson Esiti and Rabiu Ibrahim.

Ekong’s afternoon was soiled when the 23 year old unfortunately diverted a harmless ball from Erik Falkenburg into his team’s net to give Willem II a 2-0 lead minutes into the second half.

He was substituted shortly afterwards with the coach keen on giving all of the players he has on the bench a run out ahead of the restart of the Belgian league.

Rabiu Ibrahim and Anderson Esiti were also substituted in the second half while Samuel Kalu made his debut following his move from AS Trencin. Meanwhile former Eagles forward Bartholomew Ogbeche was a second half substitute for Willem II.

On loan Arsenal teen midfielder Kelechi Nwakali was among the goal scorers for his loan side MVV Maastricht in their first game of 2017 which they won 3-2 against Seraing of Belgium.

The 18 year old scored his first goal for the team in their penultimate game of last year, netting in the 2-0 win against De Graafschap, a result that keeps their promotion dreams alive.

Nwakali picked up from where he left off in 2016 when he fired in his side’s third goal from a quick counter attack with scores at 2-1 in favour of his side.

After giving his side a 3-1 lead, he wasted two good chances to kill the game off as a contest before the second division Belgian side reduced the deficit to end the tie at 3-2.

On a season long loan from Arsenal, he has so far made 11 appearances for promotion chasers MVV, where his performances have also earned him Man of The Match Award and rare reviews.

Coach of Belgian side Gent has handed Nigerian defender William Troost-Ekong his first appearance for the Belgian side, naming him in the starting line up for the game against Willem II.

Since joining Gent last summer, the 23 year old defender has been out on loan to Norwegian side FK Haugesund, and captained the team last season.

Back at Gent, the Dutch born defender is not the only Nigerian in the starting line up with Rabiu Ibrahim and Anderson Esiti also listed for action.

However latest signing Samuel Kalu starts on the bench while Moses Simon who has been linked with a move away from the team was not listed in the match day squad.

The friendly tie is part of the series of test games lined up by the team ahead of the resumption of the second stanza of the league in Belgium, where they didn’t have a memorable first half of the season.

Manager of Stoke City Mark Hughes has credited the performance of Wolverhampton Wanderers shot stopper Carl Ikeme as part of this reason why his team suffered a shock cup exit.

Championship side Wolves dumped their elite opponents right in front of their fans with strike from Helder Costa and Matt Doherty, but Hughes believes his side were denied by Ikeme’s brilliance between the sticks for Wolves.
” You need luck, their keeper (Ikeme) made several saves, but ultimately we weren’t good enough on the day and we have to give them credit”, Hughes said after the game.

Ikeme had a quiet first half when his team were leading 1-0, but expectedly had a lot to do in the second half as Stoke push for an equaliser to force the tie into a replay.

His first major save of note was from Arnautovic 15 yard effort which he did well to push wide with a strong pair of hands, before producing another top class save to deny Affelay with a full range dive.

Joe Allen was next to try his luck with a long range effort but just Ikeme was once again to deny him with another top class save, moments before his team’s second
goal of the game.